Tag-Archive for » elevator pitch «

Hi. My name is Jonathan Faccento and I recently graduated with my bachelor’s degree. Currently, I’m a Marketing Associate at a non-profit organization that’s given me a couple opportunities with graphic design projects, which is my dream job. Sure, our great country is in the midst of a recession, but with experience and a little bit of patience, I’ll be on the fast track to “living the dream” in no time.

Cut to

Look, I’ll be completely honest, that was 3 years ago. Sure, I’ve had a few freelance jobs here and there, but I’m always looking for more. CareerBuilder and Monster searches aren’t enough and I just don’t think my portfolio has gotten enough exposure. Graphic design is not an easy business to break into without that competitive edge.

In 2006, there were 261,000 people employed as graphic designers. By 2018, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the number of graphic design jobs will increase 13 percent—as fast as the average growth for most occupations. Despite growth in the field, however, there is strong competition for graphic design jobs. The hours are often extensive, and in the start of your career, you may not get the most thrilling assignments. According to The Princeton Review, many new graphic designers become discouraged and leave the profession within the first few years.

About 25 percent of graphic designers are self-employed, and many of these designers work on a freelance or contract basis. As a graphic designer, I love nothing more than heading to my computer, turning on some music, tuning out the world and get motivated about my project. Unfortunately, jobs are not always easy to come by. It takes the right amount of networking, personal branding and experience to land your next gig.

Are you new to design? A graphic design student looking for jobs or career advice? Or an experienced professional designer trying to further your prospects? Maybe you’re just looking for inspiration?

Find it all with DesignSource.

What is DesignSource?

Are you a client looking for the right design? Are you a designer looking to showcase your talents? Let Designsource.com be your bridge to creative networking. DesignSource is a way for designers and clients to create, explore and connect. It’s taking the work or potential work you have and sharing it with a community dedicated to making the client/designer relationship as smooth as possible, all in one source.

For Designers

You’re an artist. A web designer. A graphic designer. You want to sell yourself. Now, sell your complete self with DesignSource. DesignSource is a comprehensive site dedicated to sharing your work and helping you find new work and connections. For graphic designers, there are plenty of websites dedicated to showcasing your work…and they have a catch. Many require you rebuild your portfolio from scratch using their own Content Management Service. Websites like Monster and CareerBuilder help you look for jobs, but often allow you to attached a pdf when going for jobs. Isn’t there a better way to showcase your work regardless of format? Do you have a portfolio you want to showcase be it web, pdf or Flash? Share it. No need to rebuild one that you already have. Link directly with DesignSource.

Your Identity

In the digital age that we live, many of us have spent countless hours sharpening our social media identity. Social media helps define who we are both professionally and personally. Decide what you want people see. Some of us might tweet, have a Facebook fan page, YouTube video portfolio or a LinkedIn resume they want to share with a like-minded community larger than they know. Share it. Show what you want to show. Be as transparent as you want to be. DesignSource provides the user the opportunity to link up what want to showcase from their desired social media site, be it widgets for Twitter, Facebook fan badges, Linkedin resumes or just embedding a YouTube video. You can do all of this with DesignSource’s simple in easy to navigate interface.

For Clients/Agencies

Ideas are almost never conceived perfectly. Nobody ever said brainstorming was easy. Many organizations that have a marketing team simply cannot afford a graphic design with all of today’s cutbacks in the business. Trying to find a designer with fair rates is not as easy as finding a repairman.

DesignSource takes design and outsourcing tasks to the next level. It gives designers the opportunity and platform to showcase their portfolio and website, but also serve as a way for companies and agencies to hire, recruit and discover designers. Designsource.com connects the client with the designer, all in one source.

Job postings/recruiters will be charged a nominal fee per job post. This not only helps build revenue for DesignSource, but helps us make sure are recruiters are legit.

Other Benefits?

Showing your work and finding jobs aren’t the only things DesignSource has to offer. We plan on having sponsored design contests to get your work showcased as a featured portfolio on our front page, much like a top YouTube hit of the day. We also plan on having special guest speaker videos and blogs with advice from experienced professional. In additional to this, DesignSource will provide monthly RSS feeds notifying our email list of industry trends featured employers and other site updates to stay connected with our audience.

DesignSource is convergence for the modern day designer. Unlike the competition, there are no gimmicks, templates or other product tie-ins. Just the work you already have. Think of it as your own blank canvas which you can add your work, social media presence, find inspiration, networking and potential careers.

Proposal 1: Design Source

Sentence

Ideas are almost never conceived perfectly. Design Source can take your idea to the next level, develop an eye-catching design and find the job right for you.

Elevator Pitch

Nobody ever said brainstorming was easy. Many organizations that have a marketing team simply cannot afford a graphic designer with all of today’s cutbacks in the business. Trying to find a designer with fair rates is not as easy as finding a repairman in a phone book. Design Source takes design and crowd-sourcing (outsourcing tasks) to the next level. It gives designers the opportunity and platform to showcase their portfolio and website, but also serve as a way for companies and agencies to hire, recruit and discover designers. Designsource.com connects the client with the designer, all in one source.

Promotional

Are you a client looking for the right design? Are you a designer looking to showcase your talents? Let Designsource.com be your bridge to creative networking. Many websites offer online communities to showcase portfolios, but tie in a product you have to use and edit. With Design Source, there are no gimmicks. For designers, just link to your website or embed your pictures and videos. For organizations, agencies and recruiters, post your job listings. It is a way for designers and clients to create, explore and connect. Its taking the work or potential work you have and sharing it with a community dedicated to making the client/designer relationship as smooth as possible, all in one place.

Find creativity. Share creativity. Design Source.

Proposal 2: Barbara Healy Associates

Editor’s Note: Pitches and proposals are a big part design process. In my short time as a freelancer, most of my dealings with clients have been informal. For the purposes of this proposal (and growth in my business/professional etiquette), I will be referring to an actual client that I am still continuing to work with to develop her brand, both aesthetically and marketing-wise .

Sentence

Barbara Healy Associates is a consulting practice focused on developing people, organizations and creating solutions. We believe that people are the key to the success of any organization.

Elevator Pitch

In a time of economic downturn, many people don’t know where to turn or what their next step will be. Our mission is to develop people and create solutions for their professional needs. Are you trying to develop leadership within your organization? Are you an individual looking to facilitate the “next step” or transition in your career? Barbara Healy Associates helps you with these difficult decisions in an increasingly complex professional landscape.

Promotional/Proposal

In terms of promotions, I am laying out an overview, goals, objectives and solutions on what pieces need to be in place for a successful design.

Overview

Barbara Healy Associates is a consulting firm dedicated to helping people with their career goals and is looking for a full branding effort, both web and print.

Goals and Objectives
Barbara Healy Associates is in need of a corporate identity to showcase its offerings in the business consulting industry. The company is in need of a corporate logo, business card design, company letterhead, website graphics and brochure. These marketing materials will help set the tone for the brand and business. The tone for the graphics will be light, cool colors that convey a sense of femininity as well professionalism.

Solution

The development of an original, corporate identity and marketing package.

This package will include:

A corporate logo

Business card design

Company letterhead

Billboard design

Merchandise brochure

The marketing pieces will work together to continuity among the materials to showcase the new company as a highly regarded career and business consultant.

In my graduate writing class, a topic discussed was elevator pitches. Another was the non-profit sector. Both of which I have my share of experiences. While I was not a grant reviewer, my main responsibilities were part administrative, part marketing (leading me to design) and resource development (or fundraising/campaign). My first campaign? The summer of 2007, when the word, “recession” was very popular.

Professor Kalm said in a recent blog post, “It is always a bad time to ask for money. Ask anyway and be prepared for rejection that will humble you.” Gone are the days of the workplace being a large community where philanthropy is the expected from management to the mailroom. These were and are tough times. Going out and expecting things were foolish, even in my early twenties, I had enough sense to know that. I had to find my niche.

Owning your execution in this way makes you credible

Just like the way I talk about graphic design in this forum, I had to find my passions in our organization’s mission. I started speaking to company’s about what I thought my organization would want me to say. In hindsight, that method didn’t work. I had to give them something back. I had to say things that resonated with me and came from the heart. I didn’t realize it then, but I became personally invested in the work we did. After that, the pitch was easy. All I had to do was believe it, live it and sell it to people in a way I would want to hear. Who knows me better than me?

The best way to learn your job, is to do your job. We advocated volunteerism, so I volunteered. We advocated early childhood education. I visited and promoted after school programs and even diaper drives we held for my campaigns. People had questions, I always got back to them.

The Pitch

A difficult part of the pitch was just getting to the point of speaking. Sometimes a barrier would be a coordinator that had enough jobs going on, that they did not have time to hear me. I was in the very fortunate situation of designing our campaign collateral, so this made it easier for me to speak about. Once I was in a company for a campaign presentation, I kept my pitch light. I gave an introduction telling people our mission and who we are. Then follow that up with 3 key areas (education, income and health) and a brief conclusion thanking the audience for their time and offering them tangible services (volunteerism and 2-1-1 service).

With this experience in elevator pitches, you might think it comes very naturally for me. When talking about the community when people were (and still are) in desperate times, I felt I had nothing to lose in terms of my pitches. I felt liberated winning someone over in something I believed in. Design is something else I believe in and I am passionate about. Can I bring the same level of intensity in pitching about this niche? This is something I will explore in blogs to come…